A Hero's Solace
by b-mystique
Summary: Only one thing can make Derek Morgan's pain go away...or rather, only someone. Can Morgan tell her how he feels on a lonely Valentine's day? A CCOAC Valentine's Day gift fic for sangreal7.


_A/N:_ This is written for the CCOA Valentine's Day Challenge. I had the pleasure of writing a piece for the amazingly talented sangreal7, whose work I have admired on more than one occasion. I was given the ever wonderful Morgan and Garcia pairing. My prompts were the song "Hero" by Enrique Iglesias, a surprise romantic dinner, flowers that weren't roses, and a double heart pendant. I chose to integrate all of the aforementioned prompts. So this is for you sangreal7. I sincerely hope you enjoy it and that I made you proud with this piece! : )

_Disclaimer:_ I don't own CM or any of its characters. I put in a bid, but I'm still waiting for a response. : ) The flower info was courtesy of Google.

~~~O~~~

_**A Hero's Solace**_

Derek Morgan paused outside of the Lavender door, taking a moment to catch his breath after the sprint he made up the three flights of stairs. He bowed his head forward, pressing his forehead just below the brass numbers and letting the coolness of the wood assuage his aching head as he slowly exhaled. His eyes flickered down to the take-out bag in his hand and the full bouquet of flowers peeking out from between the little white cartons with the Panda emblem, and his lips turned up in a slight smile.

Eight o'clock on Valentine's Day night and he couldn't think of anywhere else he'd rather be then outside the tiny apartment of his best friend and co-worker. After a week long case involving the deaths of young children who lost their lives far before they ever got the chance to live them, he was once again an emotional wreck. Cases revolving around children always put him in a negative head space and the last one was no exception. He was a colossal bastard up until they wrapped up the case. No one was exempt from his wrath, as the unfortunate demise of three out of the seven victims happened during their investigation. They could have stopped them. _He_ could have stopped them. None of his teammates could convince him otherwise, and until he had the satisfaction of shoving the dirt-bag Unsub's face into the pavement and clamping the ice cold steel around Robert Sterling's burly wrists, Morgan felt responsible for those deaths that happened on his watch.

_Robert Sterling._ That name would go down with the countless of others that cut too close to home. Sterling's eyes would hunt him for weeks on end and the gruesome crime scenes, coupled with the Unsub's sadistic glee would give him enough nightmares to last him a lifetime. Yeah, that case got under his skin and crawled around. He found himself having to make amends with his colleagues upon its conclusion, because he was a force to be reckoned with when an Unsub consumed too much of his head space. First was Reid, who took the brunt of his displaced rage in the field and last...last was his Baby Girl, whom he snapped at more times than he wanted to count. The second time in three months he found himself being less than cordial to his Oracle of Awesome.

**_Let me be your hero_**

She was an angel, Penelope Garcia. She was the closest thing he had to a best friend. She was a shining light in his world of perpetual darkness. Garcia was whom he breathed for. After days or weeks of drowning in the abyss of pure evil itself, she was quite literally a breath of fresh air. She was his solace, in more ways than one, and he didn't know when that happened. He didn't know when he realized that he actually _needed _her. At some point in the ten years that he'd known her, she became a necessary fixture in his life. She became the sole purpose he made it back home intact. At times, she became the only strand that grounded him in humanity. Her essence and all the beautiful things that made her quintessentially Garcia, were the things that chased the nightmares away, the things that held the fractured pieces of himself together...the things that he found himself craving after the most difficult of cases. Somewhere along the way she became his savior...a savior that he was irrevocably, incontestably, ridiculously in love with. And she was none the wiser.

There was some inexplicable gravitational pull between them. It compelled them to unconsciously orbit around one another like the Sun and the Earth whenever they occupied the same space. At least, it used to be unconscious. He found himself more aware of it now...more aware of her presence and the magnetic effect it had on him. Even then, he felt her presence simmering from behind the door and if he had any doubts of their cosmic vibe it was quelled once he felt the door open and the object of his affection and adoration appeared before his eyes. She stood before him, burgundy tresses flowing down her ivory neck and resting just above her full bosom. A pink and red heart patterned blouse hugging her curves. Long, dangly, Cupid earrings dangled from her lobes and he found himself following the curve of her neck before bringing his eyes back up to her ruby red lips.

"Hot Stuff..." she gasped in concern, as she took in his haggard appearance and the barely visible dark circles beneath his eyes.

He gave her a reassuring smile and a slight shake of his head,"I'm okay Baby Girl."

He brought a sole finger up and curled it around the curve of her chin,"Now that I'm with you."

**_Would you dance, if I asked you to dance?_**

And so begin their signature dance.

Their trademark banter was comparable to a well executed Tango. Their words and actions like a passionate yet friendly game of chase where one of them tried to outdo the other. A constant pull of back and forth, jerky movements, in the form of flirty banter and sexy witticisms. They had the routine down to a science. They had a sexy and quirky Tango, but all he wanted was the slow burn of a sensuous and intoxicating Rumba.

He watched as she mentally assessed him. Her bright concerned eyes probed his dark brooding ones, through the lenses of the hot pink frame perched on her nose. She gave a slight nod, her lips pursed together in a way that was practically tantalizing, before taking the green light.

"This sweet tooth of mine was craving chocolate...and then_ you_ appear on my doorstep. My chocolate hero, here to save me from a lonely Valentine's Day!" she giggled.

He let out a low chuckle and flashed her that million watt smile. "More like, you're saving _me _from a lonely Valentine's Day, Princess."

She ducked her head in a shy gesture, scoffing at him before taking his hand in hers and pulling him forward. "Come on, Hot Stuff. I smell Chinese."

"Uh-uh," he resisted her actions, pulling his hand out of hers and leaning against the door frame. "Not so fast Goddess,"he said in a sing song voice, tapping his index finger on the tip of her nose. He stared at her adoringly before reaching into the bag and extracting the bouquet of red Daisies with silver glitter sprinkled over the petals, presenting them to her with a half grin.

His heart thumped a little harder in his chest as she brought the Daisies to her nose and inhaled their sweet scent, before opening her misty eyes and giving him her most breathtaking smile. "Happy Valentine's Day..." he murmured softly. "And I'm sorry for before."

"Thank you," she said quietly. "And I told you already babe, our love is like a rock." She grinned at him and grabbed his hand again, squeezing it in thanks before yanking him into the apartment.

**_Would you run and never look back?_**

He crossed the threshold and gently closed the door behind him, sliding the chain-locks and exhaling. The bright colors and trinkets made the corners of his mouth pull up in a smile. He felt a surge of warmth envelop him and all the mixed emotions and unpleasantries of the past couple of weeks quickly dissipated. It felt like home.

He watched as she flitted around her kitchen area, arranging her flowers in a psychedelic tie-dye vase. She filled the vase with water and chattered away, occasionally glancing over her shoulder to smile at him. He set the bag down on the coffee table, carefully pulling out the cartons and placing the smorgasbord of food on its surface. She appeared before him, setting the vase in the center of the table and balancing the wine glasses and bottle of wine in her spare hand, before settling down on the couch beside him, one leg pulled beneath her.

**_Would you cry, if you saw me crying?_**

She knew that she shouldn't ask him about his day, though he could sense she was wondering about it. She chose instead to engage him in a duel with their chopsticks, until both found themselves in stitches-rogue strands of Lo Mein piling up at their feet. They managed to finish off the remaining cuisine through muffled laughs and giggles and settled back on the couch taking sips of wine.

"So.." she started breathlessly, finally tossing her chopsticks on the table in surrender. "Why Daisies? Don't most girls get Roses on Valentine's Day, Mon ami?" She asked with a quirk of her brow.

"You're not 'most girls', Baby Girl," he responded simply. "You're one of a kind, Mama."

He watched as her face flushed a bright crimson and she scrunched her nose up at him and grinned. "True, I shan't be compared to a mere commoner," she quipped with a false air of arrogance and a smirk.

"No, the Goddess deserves something special." He shot her a half grin before pulling her into his side, snaking his arm around her and relishing the warmth and the way her sweet scent tickled his nose and wrapped around him in its own hug.

"I kinda miss this," she sighed.

He ignored her errant thought. "James Montgomery once said _The rose has but a summer reign. The Daisy never dies_."

He felt her smile into the crook of his neck and he smiled too. "You're my Daisy,angel. Also..." he started, chuckling when he felt her perk up, her warm breath tickling the side of his face and giving him thoughts that should be criminal.

**_And would you save my soul, tonight?_**

"A little birdie told me, that the Daisy is a symbol of childhood innocence," he whispered gently as he watched her absentmindedly fiddle with a single Daisy she had extracted from the full bouquet. " In Victorian times," he continued on while stroking her hair. "The Daisy also symbolized simplicity and modesty. It was the flower used to determine...love. 'He loves me...he loves me not'...You remember doing that as a kid, Baby Girl?"

"Yeah, boy do I," she whispered back, a little too awestruck to chuckle the way she wanted to.

"Daisies also had healing powers...and were lucky," he said softly, his mind still light-years away. "If they crushed and soaked in wine they were believed to have cured insanity..."

**_Would you tremble, if I touched your lips?_**

"What do red Daisies mean?" she whispered, her lips close enough for him to lean in and kiss her.

"Red Daisies are given to a woman unbeknown of her own beauty," he whispered, his voice husky and his chocolate eyes smoldering.

She pulled back suddenly, misty eyes meeting his and a bright smile on her face, "Something tells me your 'little birdie' was Reid."

**_Would you laugh? Oh please tell me this_**

He felt a knot in the pit of his stomach. He shook his head, admonishing himself for a momentary lapse of composure. He flashed her a smile, hoping and praying that she didn't notice that it was strained. "Something tells me you're right."

She fiddled with the Daisy in hand. The beautiful flower now having significant meaning for her. She flashed him that smile again, watery eyes meeting his and her voice a little shaky from choking back emotion, "I love you Derek Morgan."

**_Now would you die, for the one you love?_**

**_Hold me in your arms, tonight_**

And there it was.

Exchanging "I love you's" had been part of their "thing" for years. It was a simple and sweet admittance. An acknowledgment that they truly did care about one another. They were, after all, best friends. The problem was, that for him at least, the rules had changed. "I love you" was entirely too close to "I'm _in_ love with you" and a simple slip of the tongue, figuratively and literally knowing him, could have consequences that he didn't want to think about. He wanted Penelope Garcia...he definitely wanted her, but he needed her more. Needed her friendship, her purity, and her all around innocent presence in his life. So he had avoided it all together. He avoided stating the obvious out of fear that it would segue-way into the painfully obvious. He was in love with her.

"I know," he teased in the sexy way he knew she liked.

**_I can be your hero, baby_**

**_I can kiss away the pain_**

Only, it didn't work this time. To his surprise and utter horror he seen that crestfallen expression on her otherwise stunning countenance as she pulled away from him. Her brow furrowed slightly before smoothing out again. Her lips pursed together, and she bit her lower lip. The brims of her eyes pooled with tears no longer threatening to spill over, as they cascaded down her cheeks like a silent waterfall.

"Hey, hey.." Morgan whispered in a hushed tone, wiping the tears from her face.

"I'm sorry," she cleared her throat and flicked his hand away, wiping her own eyes and throwing him a tight smile.

He sat further back in the couch, giving her space despite the fact that her tears made him physically ache and long to embrace her. "What's wrong, baby? Talk to me."

She let out a shaky breath and looked up at the ceiling as if to seek some sort of comfort or affirmation to go on. "I feel like...I feel, like I'm losing my best friend."

He sighed and rubbed her arm in a circular pattern, "You'll always be friends with JJ. You two can still hang out and spend time together. She isn't that fa-"

"I'm not talking about JJ," she interrupted him with an elevated voice. She waved her hands up in exasperation and shot him a pained expression. "I'm t-talking about you."

**_I will stand by you forever_**

**_You can take my breath away_**

He felt as if a ton of bricks him. His gut wrenched in the most uncomfortable of ways and he felt a ripping pain tear into him. She had him wrapped around her bejeweled finger from practically the first day he met her, and he'd do anything short of murder...though chances are he'd do that to, for her. He tried to be the best friend he could possibly be for her, in hopes that maybe..just maybe he'd give her an ounce of what she'd given him...and somehow, he failed. He opened his mouth to speak but nothing came out. He just exhaled, a whooshing sound that was foreign to his own ears, and he didn't realize that he had been holding his breath for so long.

"This job is worrisome, Derek. I find myself worrying about everything and everyone. Something is going on with Reid and he's not talking about it, but he's worrying me! I don't know what's going on with Emily! Hotch has been having trouble with Jack! I miss JJ...and then there's you! I look forward to our times together because you save me from... well everything. But..." her voice trailed off and she wrapped her arms around herself as if to keep herself together.

"But...?" he prompted with an uncertain tone to his voice.

She averted her eyes and chewed on her lower lip, and he nearly came undone at the action. "Sometimes we're fine and then other times you unleash your frustrations on me. Which is fine, it's just...we don't communicate the way we used to. We have this thing, this flirty thing, and sometimes it feels like you're holding back...like you don't care for it anymore. You sort of withdraw and...I care about you Derek. I love you...why don't you say it back anymore?" She canted her head to the side and her voice was small like a wounded animal's.

**_Would you swear that you'll always be mine?_**

He stared into her eyes and tried his best to fight back his own tears. She noticed. Of course she noticed. If his Baby Girl wasn't anything else, she was perceptive. In fact, at times she had the profilers beat. He'd do anything to take that pained expression off of her face. He'd do anything to make her smile again, and laugh her carefree laugh. He'd do anything because when she was happy, he was happy, and he so desperately wanted to be happy. He also knew that his happiness wasn't nearly as important to him as hers. What could he say to her? How could he respond to that without breaking down and telling her the truth? That he loved her...that he was _in_ love with her and that he wanted her to give him a chance. It would be selfish to tell her that and expect her to respond the way he wanted her to. It would be selfish to ask her to be more than just his best friend. He couldn't stand the thought of giving her a relationship where he benefited more than she did. Be in a relationship that his job would wear down. His line of work was entirely too dangerous for him and her to ever work. It would require him making promises that he'd be home and be there for her for always...knowing that sometimes that may not be possible. How could he make promises for tomorrow when half the time he wasn't sure he would make it through today?

**_Or would you lie? Would you run and hide?_**

"I'm sorry...I shouldn't have said anything," she responded to his silence with a rushed tone and a false sense of cheer.

"No," he began.

**_Am I in too deep?_**

**_Have I lost my mind?_**

He studied her, his mind reeling with indecision before finally making up his mind. They were drifting apart and it was mostly his fault. The problem with not being honest with her out of fear of losing her, was the fact that he still was losing her. The truth would come out eventually, and it may as well be at that moment. They were already in uncertain territory and there would be no turning back. He rubbed his bald head with his hand and sighed.

**_I don't care. You're here, tonight_**

"I have one more present for you, Baby Girl," he grabbed the bag on the coffee table, fishing out packets of Soy sauce and fortune cookies until his large hand wrapped around the red velvet box. "I have this for you," he murmured as he opened the box and revealed the diamond encrusted double heart pendant on a 14 kt gold chain.

"Der-" she started but was shushed by Derek's finger pressing up against her lips.

"I do love you Penelope. I know you know that," he pulled the delicate necklace from the box and proceeded to clasp it around her neck. "Beautiful," he muttered softly as it rested just above her plunging neckline.

He idly dragged his finger down the course of the chain and around the pendant, relishing the warmth of her soft flesh beneath his finger. He raised a brow as her body trembled beneath his touch, and he pulled away and rested back on the couch, facing her with sad eyes.

**_I can be your hero, baby_**

**_I can kiss away the pain_**

"I love you too much," he managed to get out over the lump in his throat. He ignored the way her breath hitched and how her luscious lips formed an "o". "I told you once that you were my solace...do you remember that?"

Penelope nodded slowly, her finger tracing over the necklace around her neck.

"Well you are," he nodded as if confirming it to himself yet again. " And what that means is, well, it means I need you...so much," his voice broke off as emotions strangled him and he rubbed the back of his neck before continuing. "You joke around that I'm your hero and knight in shining armor, but the truth is...you're mine. You're my saving grace, Baby Girl. In ways that I can't even find the words- the words to tell you."

He took a steady breath, and watched as she toyed with the fringe on the orange and yellow pillow she currently was hugging to her chest. His eyes traveled from the pillow to her eyes, where he forced himself to keep them.

**_I will stand by you forever_**

**_You can take my breath away_**

"It's-hard sometimes...for me to tell you I love you because, I do love you. I love you so very much. But somewhere along the lines, our flirting wasn't just fun flirting anymore. The lines became blurred and it became...real. I'm in love with you," he heard her gasp, her eyes wide and boring into his own. "You have my heart, woman," he let out a forced chuckle and touched the pendant at her neck. "You always will."

"I-I..." she breathed shaking her head in shock.

"I need you too much for this..." he waved a hand between Garcia and himself. "...for this to change. I can't risk.._losing_ you," he said in a small voice.

He stood up and gave her a tight smile, before leaning down to drop a chaste kiss to the crown of her head and tried to make his way out.

**_Oh,I just wanna hold you_**

**_I just wanna hold you, oh yeah_**

"No," she whispered before gaining control of her full voice. "No, Derek," she said louder and more firmly. She tugged on his hand before he acquiesced and reclaimed his seat on the couch. "You don't get to say stuff like that and walk away, Derek," she said with a hint of anger and a fierce determination in her eyes.

"Guys like you don't fall in love with girls like me," she said with narrow eyes.

"That's not true, Baby Girl," he argued vehemently. Nothing irritated him more than when she talked down on herself.

"Let me finish," she practically snapped at him. "It's true that guys like you don't fall for girls like me. That being said, we're two of a kind that way so of course we'd go and defy the odds, defy the Universe," she half chuckled. "But you don't get to decide that...that we can't _be _together because you're afraid," she spat out.

"Garcia," he started.

"No!" She nearly shouted, grabbing his hands in hers. "No," she said more softly but still with determination. "I love you Derek Morgan. That will never change, no matter what happens. I will always love you and I'm not going to leave you...you won't lose me, Derek," she stared at him with a burning intensity. "No matter what, you won't lose me but..."

He sighed a resigned sigh as if preparing to be defeated.

**_Am I in too deep_**

**_Have I lost my mind_?**

"I'm not afraid when I'm with you. You do that for me, you make me feel safe, and wanted ,and needed... and loved. I need you too, Derek. I need you in my life and I always will, and that won't change. Right now, I need you to give this...us a shot. I need you to have faith in us actually working. I need you to make us both happy," she whispered with a shrug.

"We won't be able to go back, Baby Girl," he contested, his chocolate eyes a little glossy.

"I don't want us to," she murmured leaning closer to him.

**_Well, I don't care you're here tonight_**

His mind caught up to the last few minutes of their discussion, his heart clenching in his chest as she moved closer. She loved him back. He suspected as much but the confirmation was enough to make him cry out in pure joy. He didn't deserve her. He truly didn't deserve her or all of the amazing things she offered him, all the things that took his breath away. She definitely deserved better than him, though he had yet to discover a guy who met the standards that he felt his Baby Girl needed, himself included. But he would try. He would try to be everything she needed and everything she deserved. She already was everything he needed, everything he could possibly want and damn him for his questioning his faith because there had to be a God to make Penelope Garcia, and there had to be a God that led her to cross his path.

"We should do things slow, Baby Girl," he managed to breath out, as her face neared his, her shaky hand slid his Henley up and her cerulean tinted nails scratched against his abdomen. "Please," he practically whimpered.

"Nearly ten years of foreplay, Chocolate Thunder," she whispered as her arm snaked around his neck. "The only things I want done slow, will be done in that bed over there, Hot Stuff..."

**_I can be your hero baby_**

**_I can kiss away the pain_**

She leaned in closer, her mouth mere inches away from his and she stared into his eyes with a look of uncertainty. As if she expected him to change his mind, as if she were still unsure that he actually wanted her. Her hands were shaking as they splayed across his back and she gave him that smile, that irresistible smile.

His eyes bore into hers and he tried to convey just how certain he was, and to make sure that message was received he captured her lips in his, with a tentative kiss. It was soft and sweet and hesitant at first. Her lips were so soft and warm beneath his own. They pulled away after testing the waters, kicking the tires on this new found relationship.

"Wow," she breathed out, the corners of her mouth pulling up in a smile.

**_I will stand by you forever_**

He couldn't argue with her, as he pulled her closer to him, mashing his lips to hers, nipping at her lip and probing with his tongue until she parted her lips and gave him access. Their tongues explored one another...a fevered, passionate duel for dominance. He pulled her tighter to him, until there was no more space, and felt the hammering of her heart against his skin. His own heart repeatedly slammed against his ribcage and he wound his hands in her hair. Her soft moans reverberated through him and slowly he tried to pull away, to no avail. She held on tighter than he thought possible and he chuckled as he kissed her, feeling her smile on his lips before gently pushing her away. He brought his hand up to stroke her cheek and cup her chin before letting it trail down her side, brushing against her breast and making it's way down until his hand intertwined with hers.

**_You can take my breath away_**

"I'm ready to worship at the altar of the Goddess," he joked in his sultry voice, a sparkle of humor glinting in his eyes, as he towed her towards the bed.

She giggled and her lust filled eyes lit up with excitement, "I already told you, Mama's craving chocolate!"

They collapsed on the bed together, laughing like two love-struck teenagers until he silenced her with his lips. She was intoxicating to him and she took his breath away. A rose by any other name would smell as sweet, but a daisy...a daisy was decadent.

**_You can take my breath away_**

**_I can be your hero_**


End file.
